Trust Issues
by EbilMe666
Summary: Fury all but forces the Avengers to live together in Stark tower after it's rebuilt from the New York battle. There's just one problem. None of them trust each other. Tony doesn't even see himself as part of the group. Tony centric. No slash. slight Pepperony and slight Clintasha. Team fic. Rated T for slight language. Set before IM3.
1. Chapter 1

**Another Avengers fanfic huh? This time it has chapters though -insert gasp here-**

**Yeah, I really like these guys especially the science bros. How could you not love the science bros? (Note I say bros not husbands or Stanner, that pairing doesn't work for me)**

**Yups, anyway, lets get started then. I'm not going to post any chapter unless I have the next one at least planned, if not written. (Yes, I'm working on instinct here and not from a plan.) This does mean I am just as exited as you guys hopefully are for the next chapter whenever I get around to writing it (Of course, if this is posted then it's already written but ignore that for now.) I will be updating this weekly as long as everything goes to plan. Sometime on a Monday. Anyway, without further Ado, let's welcome the new story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers in any way, shape or form.**

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"Hold on a second there Fury." Tony said. "Under no circumstances am I allowing two assassins, a god or the fucking super soldier that my dad would never shut up about into my house."  
"What about Banner?" Fury asked, curious as to why Tony had missed him.  
"I like Banner." Tony said. "Quite a big fan of the Hulk too."  
"They're all moving in next month whether you like it or not." Fury told him Tony almost groaned.  
"Do they have to?" He asked, well aware he was whining.  
"Yes."  
"But they hate me." Tony said, "Besides, none of us trust each other."  
"That's exactly why I want you all to move in with each other." Fury said. "Besides," he added, "The Helicarriers's getting crowded"  
"So you're passing them down to me?!" Tony asked. "That's just unfair." He said to Fury. "Besides, I'm not even an avenger." Fury raised an eyebrow. "I'm a consultant who you happened to need help from." He was saying it to Fury's back though as the man left Stark tower. He sighed and for some reason found himself looking forward to it but if he wanted everything to be perfect if this was not in fact the horrible nightmare he believed it to be. He'd need to get to work fast.

Tony locked himself in his lab for almost a full week, he had been designing the floors that the Avengers would live on. Stark tower, along with the rest of New York was as good as new so they'd be living there. His and Pepper's floor was already done, as was the basement and the lab. He just had to make some adjustments to a few of the other floors to make them more suitable for each Avenger's personal needs. He wasn't usually one for designing much of the interior of his buildings but with some he did so to add a more personal touch. This was just one of those instances. Not that he didn't enjoy it of course.

Bruce's was calm and tranquil, the edges were rounded and Tony worked on the design for a full 24 hours before he decided it was perfect. Natasha's and Clint's were similar to each other but where Clint had an archery area, Natasha had a shooting range. There was a private staircase between the two floors. Thor's had been interesting to design, he studied a little Norse mythology to try and get it perfect and when he was done it gave off the desired 'royal' effect. Steve's had been the hardest of all. Stark decided to base it off of homes from the 40's, adding a little modern flare here and there, there was also a relatively large art room as he remembered his father telling him how much the Captain had liked to draw in his spare time. The shared floor was quite easy in comparison, he made sure there was a small training area and a small shooting range and a pretty big gym. The living room was big but not hi-tech enough to freak Steve out, the kitchen was similar in it's uncharacteristic design from the futurist. He added a few final touches to it, including plenty of vents and high places for Clint, before looking at all the designs and smiling. He couldn't help but be proud of them, he just hoped he could get them built in the three weeks he had left. He was slightly upset that he hadn't been able to make a private lab for Bruce, he just didn't have enough spare floors. He had to keep the business running after all.

A week before the Avengers were set to move in Tony called in on them and Director Fury. De-suiting in the Helicarrier was strange, he had to do it by hand and then he was never quite sure where it was taken which worried him, he didn't like not knowing where his babies were. "You know." He said, approaching Fury. "A month is hardly enough time to get everything ready so that six extremely different people can live in harmony." He thought for a moment. "Make that eight."  
"Eight?" Fury asked.  
"Jarvis and Pepper." Tony said. Fury would have laughed slightly, if he wasn't Fury, at the fact that Tony saw Jarvis as a person.  
"You will be able to though right?" he asked quickly.  
"It will be close, I had to make a few adjustments to Bruce's floor when I remembered the possibility of Hulk actually emerging, which I really hope he won't as much as I like the big guy. It's behind schedule but that shouldn't matter, all of their personal floors are done. It's just the shared one left."

Then Natasha entered the room. "Natasha." Tony said in acknowledgement.  
"Stark." Natasha responded, slightly annoyed that he had used her first name.  
"Is that all Stark?" Fury asked the man.  
"Yes, actually." Tony responded. He begun walking through the corridors of the Helicarrier, not quite sure why other than it had been a while since he'd been on the ship. He wondered where his future housemates would be right about now, he was wasting precious time he could have been spending supervising the tower, making sure everything was _perfect._ After half an hour wandering around on the carrier he called to a random S.H.I.E.L.D. employee, demanding to be taken to his suit. When he got to it he was thankful it was in perfect condition. He put it on quickly, thankful for Jarvis' sudden presence, he never seemed t realize how much he missed him when he was somewhere that Jarvis couldn't go. He walked up to the launch bay for the Quinjets dispatched and flew out, he stalked the ship for a while before realizing he was procrastinating. He headed back to Stark tower even though he was sure Pepper was doing a great job in making sure everything was how Tony wanted it.

When he got back he was relieved to see that nothing had gone wrong and they were still on target. He would have done it all himself if he had the time but just doing the designs was enough for him. He begun to walk around the completed floors, suddenly feeling anxious that they team wouldn't like them. "They'll love them and you know it." Pepper said.  
"But what if they don't?" He asked, "What if they think I'm being too sensitive?" He said, referring to Bruce's and Steve's rooms and possibly Thor's.  
"They'll like them Tony, trust me." Tony looked at her before smiling.  
"Yeah, they'll love them. Nothing to be worried about." he said, realizing he had started to worry her. "I'm going to the lab." He said before disappearing. He emerged from the lab when he heard the news that the main floor was done five days later. He smiled, it truly was perfect. Just how he wanted it. It was simple enough that it didn't look like he had really tried, it took him a long time to perfect that look and man was it worth it. He grabbed a few supplies before going back to the lab. The Avengers were due to arrive in two days and Tony really didn't want to greet them, even after the amount of work he'd put on to make sure they were comfortable.

"Sir." Jarvis said when the Avengers arrived, right on time. "They're here." Tony tensed.  
"Lock down the workshop, no one is to come in okay J?"  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said and then Tony tried his hardest not to think about what they thought he was doing they probably thought he forgot. _'good.' _He thought to himself, _'better they think that than know I'm hiding.'  
_"I'm gonna need to see them sooner or later aren't I?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.  
"Yes sir."  
"Has Pep requested my whereabouts yet?" He asked.  
"Miss Potts knows you may be anxious of the situation." Jarvis said. "She knows you'll come when you're ready."  
"And the others?"  
"They notice your lack of presence sir." Jarvis told him.  
"Time to make an entrance then.. Let's just hope they don't talk about New York too much and if they bring up the wormhole I'm going to need to leave. Quickly."  
"Understood sir." Tony put on a fake smile and placed sensor bands around his wrists, just in case. He left the lift and went to the main room, knowing Pepper would take them there first.

Tony entered the room and stepped in place next to Pepper. "Sorry I'm late." He said. "That's not very polite of me, I'll take it from here Pep." He looked around at the small group. "This is the main floor, the one where meetings between all of us will be, the one where the kitchen is," He said, "although there is a smaller one on each of your floors." He added. "There is also a shooting range over there somewhere and a training room next to it." He gestured in the direction. "Moving on, he said, really hoping the tour would end. He went to the lift, followed by the others. It stopped at a floor that was calm. "Dr. Banner." He said, "this is your floor, explore it and feel free to tell Jarvis if you want any changes." He paused for a moment. "I tried to design it as calm as possible." Bruce looked dumbstruck. "Banner." Tony called. "I need to get a move on here, I'm working on something important right now." Bruce nodded and put his bags down, stepping into a room. The next floor was Thor's. "Thor, this is yours. You have no idea how much Norse mythology I had to read till I got it perfect." He looked at the god. "Also, the kitchen cupboards are full of pop tarts and other sweet things I thought you might like."

"Thank you Metal Man."  
"It's Tony." Tony said as the lift doors shut. "Agent Barton." Tony said, "I wasn't sure what sort of thing you'd like, yours and Agent Romanova's are pretty similar but you have an archery area instead of a shooting range." Clint nodded and Natasha was relieved that Tony hadn't used her real name again.  
"Thanks."  
"No problem." Tony said. "Oh, and before I forget, there's a staircase linking your floor to Romanova's next to the training area." Natasha smiled slightly and Clint couldn't help but smile too. The lift door closed and they went down another floor. "Romanova, I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain this after Clint's." Natasha nodded and left the lift with her few belongings. "And lastly, Rogers." Tony said. when the lift doors opened Steve was brought back int the 1940's. "I didn't want to do anything too unfamiliar for you but there are a few modern touches thrown in. There are also a few history books that should give you the basic picture of what you missed. Tell Jarvis if you want any more detailed ones." And then Tony went back to the lift and keyed the special combination that took him to his lab/workshop.

He kept himself secluded in there for the best part of the first week. Eventually he had to surface, at least to restock his supplies although he knew he'd probably end up sleeping too. He had hoped it was late at night or early morning so he wouldn't have to run into anyone but he was never that lucky. As it turned out they were waiting for him to make an appearance. He had to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen so avoiding them wasn't an option. "Hey.." He said awkwardly.  
"Stark." Steve said.  
"I trust you're all settling in well." Tony said, knowing he'd actually have to talk to them. But then he could always collapse from exhaustion instead. "J, how long has it been now?" He asked suddenly as the thought came to him. Jarvis knew what the question was.  
"Five days sir." The AI responded. Tony nodded. He was never normally awake for that long, usually giving into sleep after three or occasionally four.  
"Right.." He said slowly, looking around the room at the heroes.  
"Five days since what?" Bruce asked.  
"That." Tony said, snapping his head to face Bruce. "Is none of your business." He sighed. "I'm gonna need to go now though." He turned to the lift, and begun walking towards it, he'd restock when he woke up.  
"No." Natasha said firmly. "You're not going anywhere." Tony turned, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.  
"And you're gonna keep me here are you?" He asked.  
"As a matter of fact, yes." She said.  
"I haven't got time for this." Tony said, he was working on a set of upgrades to the Iron Man suit and really wanted to get them done before the next mission. He also needed to take time out to sleep as if he didn't do that soon he knew he would collapse.

Pepper walked into the room and saw Tony, to everyone else he just looked like Tony but she could tell he hadn't had sleep for longer than usual. "Jarvis." She said.  
"Yes Miss Potts?" He asked.  
"How long has it been since he.." She asked, letting the question trail off.  
"Five days." Jarvis said. "I strongly suggest you take him to his room." He added.  
"I was planning to." She told the AI. "Sorry but I need to steal Tony for a moment." She told the Avengers. She walked to where Tony was glaring at her and grabbed his arm. The pair disappeared into the lift.

"Anyone have a clue what five days means?" Clint asked.  
"Jarvis?" Natasha asked.  
"Yes Agent Romanova?" The AI responded.  
"What had been five days?" She asked.  
"Sir doesn't like me sharing that sort of information with you." Jarvis said.  
"No help there then." Steve said.  
"No." Bruce said. "No." He said again, more firmly. "That means it's about his personal matters."  
"How'd you get that?" Steve asked.  
"Well, if Jarvis isn't allowed to share it it must be something like that." He said. "Stark wouldn't make Jarvis wouldn't keep information about something trivial."  
"So what is it?" Natasha asked.  
"I'm not sure." Bruce said. "It could be how long since he ate or slept or anything else like that."  
"Right." Natasha said. "So he probably has little to no sense of self preservation then." She had meant it as a joke but they all suspected it was true.

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**Ebil here, hey guys!**

**I hope you liked that and I know this sounds needy and stuff but it really helps my motivation when you guys review my stories. What do you to five as a ransom for the next chapter? Is that mean? It's probably mean holding chapters ransom and I haven't done it before but I really need to know that people like this one before I continue it, I couldn't stand it if it didn't get any love at all.**

**So yeah, 5 reviews okay?! I know you guys can do it!**

**Please don't hesitate to suggest things, I love suggestions!**

_**Till next time!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! 9 reviews, 14 favs and 35 alerts! You guys are amazing!**

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Tony didn't want to go to sleep, not because he believed he didn't need it, he really did. When he was tired his work would begin to take longer and his hands would grow unsteady. He didn't want to go to sleep because of the nightmares that never failed to accompany it. Pepper knew about them but none of the others did.

Despite his mind not wanting sleep his body obviously did as he was asleep almost as soon as, probably even before, his head hit the pillow. Pepper watched him for the first few minutes, trying to think about why she put up with him. She asked herself it a lot and the truth was it was because he was selfless and somehow she knew that whoever was hiding underneath was kind and caring and... fragile. Sure, Tony might have a brilliant mind and a suit of iron but that didn't mean he wasn't human. After ten minutes she left, not wanting to see the nightmares that would begin to show up in a few hours. She really hoped he got enough sleep before then.

When he eventually woke up, not because of a nightmare for once, he went down the stairs instead of the lift and arrived at the Avengers' floor. They were all waiting for him. "Hey." He said cautiously, with an edge of tiredness to his voice. "What's up?"  
"Stark." Clint begun before he was interrupted by Steve.  
"Stark, we're here to develop trust." The super soldier said. "We can't do that if you avoid us." Tony sighed, he knew that he was going to have to have this conversation sooner or later.  
"Ah." He said. "You seem to be mistaken on a couple of facts there Captain."  
"Enlighten me." Steve said deadpanned.  
"Okay." Tony retorted. "First. I am not an Avenger, I'm a consultant who was only called in because you _needed _me. Second. I really don't want to get to know any of you." He looked at them, his gaze finally settling on Bruce. "Save Banner." He added, causing the doctor to smile. "And third, I have some really important projects I should be working on right now." He looked to Banner again. "Lab's the secret level under the basement, ask Jarvis in the lift and he'll take you there.  
"Thanks." Bruce said.  
"I'm guessing that one of those 'projects' is your suit." Steve said.  
"As a matter of fact, yes." Tony said. "Mark IX in fact." He said 'IX' as 'nine' although he tried to imply the roman numerals.

"For someone so set on not being an Avenger you seem to work on those suits a lot." Steve said. Tony had been expecting it.  
"I like being prepared." He said. "Besides, with a mind like mine you need something to pass the time with." He looked at Steve for a moment, knowing the next thing he said would cause a fist fight. It would be so worth it though. "Not like you'd understand though Capsicle." He looked at the Captain, amused by the angry expression on his face. It was going to be so worth it. He wouldn't bother fighting back if it came to that, Steve would beat him without the suit and with it Tony knew he would have an unfair advantage. No. He'd use his mouth as his weapon of choice thank you very much. "Aww." He said after a minute or two. "Did I make the Captain angry?" He knew that this would just end badly for him but he had to finish what he started. "Can't say I wasn't trying though." He smirked. The punch that hit him was an uppercut, seriously hurting Tony's jaw. He placed a hand on it tentatively. He moved it around a little, checking it still worked. When he was satisfied he began to open his mouth.  
"You say one more thing and I will stop holding back." Steve said.  
"Oh, please, don't hold back." Tony found himself saying. "The fact I am shouldn't sway your opinion much." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Y'know Capsicle." He begun. "For a man who I've heard so much _good _about, you aren't making the best of impressions." In truth, it was nice for Tony to find that Steve _wasn't _the perfect citizen he'd heard so much about.  
"I'm not trying to impress you Stark." Steve said. "I can't believe that the son of one of my best friends turned out to be.." He paused for a moment. "You." He said. Tony frowned. He hated Howard being brought up but wouldn't let any of them see that. As much as he wanted to annoy Steve he really didn't want to let the man know how much of a dick Howard truly was.  
"Touche Captain." He said before turning and walking calmly to the lift. It was getting progressively harder to speak and he didn't want to talk more than necessary. "Touche." He said again, much quieter, the decision not to tarnish any of Steve's memories with Howard secured. Then the lift arrived and he got in it. He took it all the way down to his lab before he set to work on his wound. He had come to the conclusion that his jaw was just bruised, nothing he hadn't been expecting then. He also came to the conclusion that if he spent enough time around him he could see himself growing to like Steve.

"Umm.. Rogers." Bruce said, unsure of his voice. "You do realize that the possibility of him ever trusting us just dropped drastically right?" Oh, if only he knew that it was quite the opposite, Tony found it easier to get along with people who weren't perfect.  
"Maybe." The Captain responded. "It's just, he's nothing like how I had hoped Howard's son would be."  
"Maybe you should stop seeing him as Howard's son." Natasha offered. "Maybe you should just see him as Tony." Steve looked slightly taken aback.  
"Did any of you see him tense slightly when Howard's name was mentioned though?" Clint asked.  
"Yeah, I saw that." Bruce said. "I'm gonna go and check he's okay." He added, heading to the lift.

"Sir." Jarvis said. "Doctor Banner is requesting permission to come to this level."  
"Let him in J." Tony said. He didn't have any work out but had plans on a few things for SI, something, besides Iron Man, he did when he had nothing else to do and he didn't really feel in the mood for Iron Man upgrades.  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said. Then the lift arrived and Bruce got out. He seemed curious of the lab, it was more up to date than any of the ones he'd been able to work in for a while. "Banner." Tony said. Not bothering to turn and face the man. He needed to sort out the bruise that was going to start appearing on his face first.  
"Stark." Bruce said back. Tony reached for the make-up that was on his desk, one of his own making, it hid virtually any blemishes, scars or cuts.  
"Feel free to-" He started applying the make up to his face. "Ow." He said quietly, interrupting his own sentence as he poked a little too hard. "Look around." He finished. When he turned to Banner there was no evidence that his jaw hurt like hell. Bruce seemed to have noticed.  
"Where did all the.." He let the question trail off and gestured to his own face.  
"I'm not even going to pretend it doesn't hurt." Tony said.  
Bruce nodded. The two of them had a relatively fun afternoon and evening in the lab, bouncing ideas off each other, when Tony's jaw wasn't preventing his speech, as they worked on separate projects.

It only ended because of the fact that Tony realized the time. "Shit." He said.  
"What?" Bruce asked.  
"It's like two AM." Tony told him. "Way past your bedtime."  
"I'm not going if you're not going." Bruce said.  
"That's not an option right now." Tony told him. "I'm so close to finishing this code." He had been working on improving the part of security that Jarvis didn't control in the tower. He didn't mention the fact that unless he worked himself into a state of pure exhaustion he would have nightmares.  
"Then I guess you're stuck with me.""  
"Bruce." Tony said. "You shouldn't do this..." He sighed when he saw the doctor's expression. "Jarvis, tell him."  
"Sir is right." Jarvis said. "If you stay up you'll collapse at roughly 17:43."  
"See!" Tony said. "You need your beauty sleep Bruce."  
"What about you?" Bruce asked before it clicked. Five days. Five fucking days. It was how long the bastard had gone with no sleep. "Oh." Was all he found himself saying.  
"Yeah," Tony said. "Oh." With that he ushered Bruce to his floor.

When he was sure that Bruce, and everyone else, was asleep he returned to the lab and washed off the make-up, he had had to use a remover that he had designed too. He assessed the bruise, deciding it would take at least a week to be fully gone. That was okay though, he could hide it from them for that long. He didn't bother to replace the make up and went back to his work on the code. He had to smooth out any errors before he installed it in the security system for the tower. It had a hidden purpose too which was to just generally make Jarvis more aware of human emotions so that he could respond to them with the right tone of voice. Tony smiled. He always liked making Jarvis seem more human. It made him less ashamed that he was the only real friend he had. The robots didn't count and he wasn't sure he could trust Bruce, the last time he trusted a human he was betrayed.

The morning light started to flicker in through the artificial windows. They showed Tony the view from the ones at the top floor of Stark tower, although he would sometimes change it to Malibu. A few hours later the code was complete.  
"Sir." Jarvis said. "Doctor Banner is-"  
"Requesting permission I get it J." He sighed. "Tell him to wait a few moments."  
"Yes sir."  
"Good boy." Tony said as he begun applying the make-up. "This new code will give you a little more control over this area too." He placed the last little bit of make-up on his face. "You exited?"  
"Of course." The AI responded eagerly. Tony could somehow tell that Jarvis was genuinely exited.  
"I thought so." He looked straight at one of the hidden cameras "How do I look?"  
"Like nothing ever happened sir." Jarvis said, there was possibly a hint of sadness but Tony ignored it, he'd let himself think it was his imagination.  
"Perfect." Tony said as he plastered on the smile that naturally came to his lips, the fake and seemingly genuine one, hopefully not something he'd have to do often around Bruce. "Let him down."

Almost as soon as Tony had finished speaking the lift arrived. "Bruce." Tony said in acknowledgement.  
"Tony." Bruce said, he noticed the distinct lack of marks on Tony's face but decided not to mention it. "How's the code?" He asked instead. When he did he saw a flash of _something _in Tony's eyes, they just seemed to get brighter somehow.  
"It's completed." Tony said. "Just finished it actually." The smile on his face seemed to lessen but Bruce could tell that it was just becoming more genuine. "About to install it. Isn't that right J?"  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said. "I've checked it for all possible flaws and detected none." Bruce smiled, glad that he'd be there for a big update to the security, he'd already learnt those were rare, Tony preferred not to update it if he could get away with it.  
"Right." Tony said. "Installing the code now." He said, hunched over one of his computers. "Keep talking to me Jarvis babe, I need to be able to tell if there's a mistake with your core."  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said before starting to talk to Bruce and Tony about things that Tony would only occasionally pay attention to. After a little while Tony started to pay his full attention.  
"J, baby, do you have the control we spoke about?" He asked suddenly.  
"I do sir." Jarvis said. Tony breathed a sigh of relief.  
"How are you feeling man?" He asked.  
"I am fine sir." Jarvis said. Tony smiled, a proper and genuine smile, not one he normally shared with another human present.  
"And that." Tony told Bruce. "Is how you update a system."

He and Bruce went back to work, Bruce working on whatever Bruce worked on in the lab and Tony going back to Mark IX. Bruce soon learnt that Tony would bounce ideas off Jarvis as well as him, most of the time genuinely considering what the AI said and more often than not Jarvis' input would go onto the plans. After a few hours Tony decided Bruce had spent enough time in the lab.

"I appreciate your company, I really do." He said. "But I feel your team is missing you." He said. Bruce looked at him confused.  
"They can live without me." Bruce said.  
"Maybe." Tony admitted. "But again, I'm just a consultant."  
"No." Bruce said. "Not to me at least." Tony raised an eyebrow. "You're a friend Tony." Bruce caught Tony off guard.  
"Still, I think you should go to your team." Tony insisted.  
"I don't want to." Bruce said.  
"Fine." Tony said. "But when they come looking don't blame me okay?" He said.  
"Okay." Bruce said before going back to work.

Around an hour later Jarvis began to talk loud enough so Bruce could hear him too. "The Avengers are inquiring as to Doctor Banner's whereabouts." He said. Tony smirked.  
"How long did it take?" Tony asked.  
"Approximately 53 minutes sir." Jarvis told him.  
"I'm surprised." Tony said. "It shouldn't have taken them that long." Tony looked at a camera. "Right, send them down. Don't let them in past the first room." Tony really didn't like people seeing his unfinished work and the first room was like a foyer, with actual walls instead of glass ones. Unless Thor got impatient then they wouldn't break any time soon. "Sorry kiddo." He said to Bruce. "Looks like your parents have come to 'collect' you." He replaced his smile with a fake, more typical _Tony Stark _one before starting to walk towards it.

He and Bruce walked through the large lab till they got to that one room. The one attached to the lift. Tony opened the door and let Bruce walk through first before following. He nodded at them and they looked at him confused.  
"What happened to your face?" Clint asked.  
"What can I say? I don't bruise easily." He said. "I take it you want your resident scientist back."  
"That would be correct Metal Man."  
"Thor, it's Tony without the armor." Tony informed him, knowing it would go ignored.  
"If you hate us so much Stark," Tony found it unsurprising to see this coming from Steve. "Why did you let us in?"  
"A few reasons." Tony admitted. "One, I was sorta forced and two, I'm a philanthropist." He looked at them. "As long as you're helping people you can stay." With that he turned and went back into the glass walls of his lab.

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**What do you think? I'd love to know!**

**Again, 5 reviews for the next chapter but considering how well chapter 1 went I don't think that will be a problem.**

**Thank's so much for reading!**

**_Ebil_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, the last chapter was met with an _amazing _response! I just- I don't know how you guys do it. Your responses are what motivates me to continue writing!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my 10th reviewer! (Who was also my 8th reviewer and the first reviewer for the last chapter!)**

**_Fullmetalsoul0062_ - This is for you! Thank you so much for reviewing!**

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"What happened to his face?" Clint asked again once they were all in the living room.  
"I'm not sure." Bruce told them.  
"Are we sure he doesn't have super healing, like me?" Steve asked, almost hopeful, he deeply regretted what had happened the previous day but wasn't going to bring it up if Tony didn't.  
"No." Bruce said, "Tony's only human."  
"Maybe he found a way to hide it _really_ well." Clint suggested.  
"You might actually be on to something there Clint." Natasha said. "But how would he be able to do that in such short a space of time?" She asked, already trying to figure it out.  
"Don't ask me." Bruce said, "I'm not the genius." With that the subject was dropped.

"Why did you need me?" Bruce suddenly found himself asking after getting no reason.  
"Oh yeah." Clint said. "We need your help doc, or more, we need the Hulk's help."  
"What with?" Bruce asked suspiciously.  
"Fury wants us, the Avengers, to go on another mission." Steve said. "Something about an escort." Well, that explains why they weren't panicking and rushing to save the world.  
"What about Tony?" Bruce asked, he had grown to like the guy and he was pretty sure 'the other guy' had too.  
"He made himself clear, both to Fury and to us." Steve started. "He's just a consultant."  
"He's the sharpest mind I know." Bruce said, his anger rising. "How the hell is he just a consultant?!"  
"His personality doesn't suit the Avengers." Steve said. "According to a certain spy's report." Natasha glared at him. She was beginning to regret that report. Tony had been dying at the time. Of course he was going to be even more erratic and impulsive than usual.  
"He flew a damn Nuke into a vortex he may not have even returned from, his efforts nearly killed him anyway, how is that not Avenger material?!" Bruce's voice was getting progressively louder and all eyes were on him, no one noticed the shrill ding from the elevator or saw as Tony ran out to try and comfort his friend until they couldn't stop him. Not that they'd have been able to even if they had tried.

Bruce could feel it. He could feel the Hulk making himself seen and was doing all he could to stop it when suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and a familiar faint blue light. "It's okay." He heard Tony say calmly. "As much as I love both you and the green guy I'd prefer it if you didn't destroy my tower for a second time. 'Kay?" He asked. Bruce felt it as the green began to leave his body and slowly he faded back to his usual complexion. His eyes gradually faded from the Hulk's bright green to Banner's hazelnut brown. "See." Stark said matter-of-factly. "I told you it was okay." Bruce found himself smiling. No one had ever even dared to go that close to him when he'd been turning before and he knew 'the other guy' liked Tony quite a lot in order for him to stop just like that.  
"I'm sorry." He said. "I was just so angry an-"  
"Shush." Tony said soothingly. "You didn't turn and my tower is in one piece." He smiled at Bruce. "That's a win-win right?"  
"Right." Bruce said shakily. Tony helped Bruce to his feet and took him to his floor to relax for a bit. He then returned to the Avengers' floor.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" He asked angrily. The question was addressed to Steve more than anyone else.  
"Were you spying on us?!" Steve asked in retaliation.  
"As a matter of fact, no." Tony responded. "Jarvis alerted me of the situation." He breathed in deeply. "And woah are you lucky he did."  
"You mean you're lucky, it would have been your tower that got destroyed!" Steve snapped back.  
"Towers can be rebuilt." Tony said, calming down slightly but still obviously angry. "If you had made him turn I would never have forgiven you." Even Steve was taken aback by this. It was Tony Stark. He didn't care about anyone but himself and yet here he was, being protective of Bruce, possibly even over protective. He walked past the speechless team and made his way to his lab muttering something about ignorant assholes.

As soon as he was in the lab he felt himself calm down, which was good. He found himself begin to wonder about the mission the team was on while he worked on Mark IX. Mark IX was going to be a fast suit. It would also be agile and a lot easier to maneuver while still being powerful. Mark VIII was the 'stealth suit'. It's main feature was that it was the first of the suits that could turn invisible, a feature he was leaving out for IX. While not being as slim and stream lined as Mark IX it was pretty fun to use, even if Tony knew he wouldn't get the chance to use it too often. Mark VII was the one he was currently using and the one he knew he'd continue to use most often. It had lot more force to the beams and better missiles than most of the others. It was the one he was most comfortable using and the one that the sensor bands were configured to.

Soon he forgot all about the mission and the team and was completely focused on his work. The holograms that he was using were complicated and would have been confusing to most people, to him they were almost second nature.

When Bruce finally returned to the lab Tony didn't make any move to acknowledge him, the music was up too high for him to hear any noises outside of his work and it was just how he liked it. Bruce silently went back to the work he was doing, the music gave him a headache but he could cope with it. After a little while he began to hear Tony mutter.  
"No, no, no. It's not right J!" He said. Jarvis lowered the volume of the music.  
"What's not right sir?" The AI asked.  
"Everything." Tony said. He moved his hands, doing something with the hologram although when it came to those Bruce wasn't ever sure about what was going on. "Got any ideas J?" He asked.  
"Might I suggest sir," Jarvis began. "That you add more power to the stabilizers and remove a few missiles?"  
"But it has so few missiles already." Tony pouted at the nearest camera.  
"It was just a suggestion sir." Jarvis said.  
"Yeah but we all know how good your suggestions are." He said, smiling. He altered a few things on the hologram before suddenly stopping. "Lower the music volume J." Tony said. The music's volume lessened considerably. He did a few more things to the holograms. "Y'know Bruce, I love being watched while I work and all but this isn't really on the 'successful' side so I'd prefer it if you stopped." He turned to face the doctor sometime during the sentence.  
"Erm." Bruce said. "Sorry." He then went back to whatever it was he was working on, Tony didn't care to ask and Bruce didn't feel the need to tell him.

Tony just couldn't get into his groove, everything he did was either wrong or good but was wouldn't actually work. "Jarvis, bin these." He said after a while, "I'll re-do them later." He started to walk to another part of the lab/workshop.  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said, in a way that meant he'd save them for later, causing Tony to smile.  
"Brucey." He called, sitting on the sofa in the small part of the floor that acted as a kitchen/living room.  
"Yeah Tony?" The doctor asked from a lab.  
"How'd the mission go?"  
"It was okay, it turned out I wasn't actually needed." Bruce said. The mission had been really boring. It was literally just taking some guy to another guy and making sure that the data the first guy was carrying didn't get damaged. The Avengers were only doing it because Fury's team of high school students were busy. Tony nodded as he made himself a coffee. "Fury was upset by your absence." Bruce said as he began to walk towards the room. "Said something about you being the only damn reason the team exists or something." Tony found himself laughing.  
"I've made myself pretty clear." Tony said. "I am not and don't even want to be an Avenger." He lied. He wanted it more than almost anything but he wasn't going to let Bruce know that. "And besides, the team does fine without me."  
"I dunno, I'm pretty sure we'd be nothing without you." Bruce said, he knew that he was only there because of Tony, he didn't care very much for the rest of them and nor did big green. Tony smirked. "Fury wants you at the Avengers' meeting next month." Tony frowned.  
"Consulting business right?" He asked.  
"I have no idea Tony." Came Bruce's honest response.

* * *

The meeting rolled around sooner than Tony would have liked. He hadn't been to a formal SHIELD meeting before and couldn't say if he was at all pleased with the fact he was finally invited to one. He arrived in the suit after after everyone else was already there. "Where the hell have you been?!" Steve snapped.  
"Sorry, I had to take care of some stuff." He replied. He stayed in the suit for the whole meeting, which was way too boring. He decided that next time he'd tamper with the music. Something that surprised everyone was how quiet Tony was being although no-one really complained. In the meeting it was decided that Tony would have no missions that month unless something big came up or unless one of the others requested his help. So nothing actually changed for him. When the meeting was over he had to leave straight away for SI business and another meeting he that he was going to like even less. This meant he missed a training session, not like he actually cared about that but it might have been fun.

After the second meeting he returned to Stark tower where he just collapsed on a sofa in the Avengers' living room that only had Steve and him in it. He was remembering why he would always skip the meetings and send Pepper to them instead. He started to loosen his tie with one hand while he put the other to his forehead, trying to ignore the constant headache that stemmed from both stress and tiredness and possibly caffeine withdrawal.  
"Stark." Steve said. "If you're tired why don't you just go to bed?" Tony looked up. Is that- was that worry in the Captain's voice?! He almost laughed. Almost.  
"That's not the best of ideas Cap." Tony said, thinking back to the nightmares. "But nice try." He smirked. He would have to find something to occupy his mind soon though.  
"And why is that?" Steve asked. Oh, great, now Steve was tying to get to the root of the problem. Just pick a side already, either he hates Tony or he likes Tony, he can't do both at once.  
"Too much work to do." Tony said as he got up. It wasn't a lie, he did have an awful lot of work on his to do list. He begun to walk to the elevator that Jarvis had already called up.  
"Stark, wait." Steve called. Tony turned his head to face him, almost expecting an apology. "I- It's nothing" He said, turning his head away. Wow, Steve was so unsure of himself he couldn't even apologize. Tony said nothing and walked into the elevator.

* * *

The next day was the first time Bruce found Tony passed out on the floor in the workshop part of the lab. He had been called down by Jarvis since Pepper was out and had no idea what to do. He started by half carrying, half dragging the man to the living area and, with no help from the bots, he eventually succeeded. "Does this happen often Jarvis?" He found himself asking.  
"More so than I'd like." The AI responded. Bruce nodded and frowned. He sighed and began making himself a coffee.  
"How long is he usually out for?" Bruce asked.  
"Sir is usually asleep for six hours." Jarvis told Bruce who's frown deepened.  
"And how long is he awake?" Bruce asked. "On average." He added.  
"Roughly seventy-four hours at a time." Jarvis said, a sad tone to his voice.  
"And only six hours sleep!?" Banner asked. "That's not healthy!" He said. He hesitated a moment before he opened his mouth again. "Why?"  
"Sir would prefer it if I didn't share that information." Jarvis said sadly. Bruce nodded that meant that there was actually a reason to Tony's behavior. He continued to talk with Jarvis while he worked, realizing the AI enjoyed the company and it was nice to talk to someone who understood exactly what you were talking about.

"How long was I asleep?" Tony asked, rubbing his eyes. He was surprised that he wasn't collapsed on the floor in workshop but on the sofa instead.  
"six hours and forty-five minutes sir." Jarvis said. Tony nodded and noticed that Bruce was in the lab. That at least explained why he wasn't on the floor.  
"You should go back to sleep Tony." Bruce said from the lab, Jarvis making it possible for Tony to hear him.  
"Nope." Tony said as he got up to make himself a coffee. "Why do you all want me to sleep so much anyway?!" He asked. It was beginning to get annoying.  
"Because six hours in three days isn't healthy." Bruce said.  
"How do you- Jarvis." Tony said.  
"Yes, I told him sir." Jarvis said. "But only because I was worried about you." The AI somehow managed to convey worry in his voice. Tony sighed.

"J, bring up the holos of Mark IX please." He said when he got back to the workshop. The AI did so and Tony looked at them for a while, not actually making any changes. "Put it next to Mark VIII." He said. Jarvis did and Tony nodded to himself. He played with both holograms for a little bit, not changing anything on Mark VIII but changing a few things on IX, before telling Jarvis to put both of them away and working on finishing Mark VIII for three hours.

He made himself another coffee once he was done.

"Bruce." he called.  
"Yeah Tony?" Bruce asked, looking up from his work.  
"I'm going up for a minute, see who's in." Tony said. "You okay down here by yourself?"  
"Yeah." Bruce said. Tony nodded and smiled. Bruce watched Tony get into the lift. He was slightly curious as to why exactly the man hadn't just asked Jarvis but he didn't dwell on it for long.

* * *

**Hope you liked that chapter!**

**I finished editing it at about 2am today so that's fun. No. Scratch that. It's like 9:30am now (I'm posting this at about 10:10am just so you know how close I'm cutting it.) and I just edited it again. It's been one of _those_ chapters.**

**Please review, as usual, 5 for the next chapter. That shouldn't be a problem though because you guys are awesome. I'm going to stop reminding you that you need 5 after this because I'm pretty sure you can make it each time. :)**

**Chapter 4 is proving difficult but will end up being pretty angsty if I continue with it the way I am so that's something to look forward to! (If you like angst that is.)**

**Anyway, thanks so much for reading!**

_**Ebil**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**WARNING: Chapter contains references to; failed suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts and PTSD.**_

******This chapter was murder to write so I dragged it out and made it like 900 words longer than I had aimed for... What I'm trying to say is that this chapter is extra long. So that's awesome.**

******I swear though, it was probably the hardest 3, 400 - give or take - words I've ever written and took about two weeks to have fully done and edited and even now I'm unsure if I should be posting it but the response to the last one was, as always, amazing!**

******This is dedicated to my 20th reviewer! - A guest reviewer actually so that's fun.**

_******dasserk**_****** - This is for you! I hope you like it. This chapter delves into the many problems of Tony a little more so I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Tony wasn't surprised when he ran into Steve on the Avengers' floor. He began to wonder if the man ever left the tower. "Rogers?" He asked, still not comfortable calling Steve Steve.  
"What is it Stark?" Steve asked, his voice annoyingly emotionless.  
"Do you, y'know, ever actually leave this tower?" Tony asked. "Except for missions?" He added.  
"Yeah, I do." Steve said, a little hostility in his voice.  
"Really?! I find that pretty hard to believe." Tony said, he sat on the sofa and took out his phone.  
"I go out every morning." Steve said. Tony nodded, he suspected Steve probably went for a run.  
"Okay.. Wrong question." Tony said. "Do you have a life outside of the tower?" He asked instead, it would either be met with a serious answer or Steve telling him to go away.  
"Stark," Steve said, Tony saw the most likely situation would be for him to tell him to 'stay out of his life' or something along those lines. "My social life is none of your business." Steve snapped. "Now why don't go go back to playing with your 'toys'?" Tony wasn't sure if he was referring to his phone, the suits or the bots.  
"They're not toys. They're-" Tony started, tying to explain that the suits and the bots were a lot more to him than simple playthings and what he did on his phone was vital for the company.  
"They're things you're constantly playing with. Sound like toys to me Stark." Steve said. "You put your father's name to shame." He added as a hiss-like whisper. Tony was pretty sure that Steve didn't think he'd heard.

Tony was speechless, he hadn't expected Steve to bring Howard up again. Had Pepper really not brought up the never-mention-Howard-in-front-of-Tony thing yet? He supposed he was going to have to get used to it until she did. He left Steve alone which the guy actually seemed to like. Was Steve fucking proud of himself? Proud that he'd managed to drive Tony away?

Tony went to his and Pepper's floor. He sighed, sat on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. He had gone to the Avenger's floor to see who was in when he could have just asked Jarvis. In fact, asking Jarvis would have been the smart thing to do. No matter, he'd do that next time. He wondered a little about what he was to the team trying to take his mind off of Howard. To Bruce he was a friend. To Natasha he was untrustworthy and everything else she'd put on that report, he was pretty sure Clint would share her views. To Thor he was the 'Metal Man' and an ally that the god seemed to trust. And lastly Steve. To Steve he was Howard's son. The jerk, the drunk and the disappointment. He sighed. Yet again Howard was brought up, this time in his thoughts though.

He wondered how many of them he could learn to trust. Bruce and Hulk were a given, he knew he'd trust them soon, the same went for Thor. Clint seemed like a pretty cool guy but Tony couldn't overlook the fact that he was a spy, trusting him would be harder but not impossible. Natasha had been hired to spy on him, and had written a pretty bad report about him afterwards, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to trust her. That left Steve, he _wanted_ to trust Steve but couldn't see that happening, not while the guy kept bringing up his father at least. Trusting the team would take time but it could happen.

He wasn't actually on the team though. He wasn't an Avenger and he'd made that quite clear. He was a consultant. If he thought about it he knew he'd turn down an offer to become an actual Avenger. Not because he wouldn't want to be one but because he knew that if and when that offer came he would already be seen as an Avenger to the team and the rest of the world. At that point it would be much more beneficial for him not to be an Avenger, that way he'd at least have the option of refusing an Assemble call. It would be nice to at least be offered the job though, to be told that he really was wanted.

He knew he wasn't going to like the missions when he eventually got some though, but then, who would like missions like the ones he and the Avengers would eventually get? He wanted to help people and so far all he'd really done was get rid of all the SI weaponry he knew of and fight some people. He had also helped to save the world but that didn't seem to matter too much any more.

But then there was the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If he had a panic attack on a mission it could go wrong. Very wrong. But he couldn't tell them. He couldn't tell anyone. If they found out he'd be off the team, which he wasn't technically on, for sure. He knew he'd slip up eventually and get reduced to just a civilian or stay as a consultant but be forbidden to act as Iron Man, he just hoped it wouldn't be for a while.

Pepper knew, sort of. She knew about the symptoms but he wasn't sure if she'd linked it to PTSD. He knew that she, and SHIELD most likely, suspected he had PTSD following Afghanistan, which he did, but they suspected nothing about the Wormhole. Now he just had more triggers and more nightmare material.

"Jarvis." Tony said, sadness and possibly a hint of desperation to his voice. "What's wrong with me?" He laid down on the bed and looked up at one of Jarvis' cameras.  
"Nothing is wrong with you sir." Jarvis said. He hated seeing his master like this. Well, hated is a strong word, Tony had programmed him without love and hate so that he wouldn't do anything rash or uncontrollable. He strongly disliked seeing his master like this is a much better term for his feelings. He also suspected that he'd be acting as therapist again. He seemed to do that a lot recently.  
"Don't lie to me baby." Tony said. "One of the only four people I trust is you. Most people don't even see you as anything more than a computer." He sighed. The other people he trusted were Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. There were also the bots but since they were more like kids than friends so he didn't count them, this time. "I just can't make connections with people."  
"Sir. I will have to argue. Dr Banner and you have a quickly developing friendship." Jarvis said. Tony smiled weakly.  
"Okay. I can't _easily _make connections with people." Tony said. He sighed. "Why does Steve hate me so much?"  
"I do not believe that Captain Roger's hates you sir." Tony smiled weakly again.  
"No. He's just disappointed in Howard's son. That's all he sees me as. _His _son." Tony felt the tears forming in his eyes. "I can't bear to tell him about my father's true nature as he has good memories of him." The memories of Howard caused the tears to spill. He had heavily altered all of his files on all government and SHIELD databases, removing anything about his father and also anything about Afghanistan. From what he could tell the only ones who actually knew anything were Fury, although not about Afghan, Stane and a handful of doctors, heavily bribed not to say a word. Most of those were probably dead by now anyway. His expression soured slightly at the thought of Stane. He was definitely dead.  
"I know sir." Jarvis said, his voice comforting. He wanted nothing more than to comfort Tony but since he had no form he couldn't. He couldn't tell Bruce because if anyone saw Tony in this state he wouldn't be happy. Jarvis wondered if he should alert Pepper.

"Steve was right." Tony muttered.  
"About what sir?" Jarvis asked.  
"Without the suit I'm worthless." Tony said. "Without it I'm nothing." He sighed. "Iron man yes. Tony Stark _not recommended. _Remember?" Part of him actually wanted to laugh at that particular memory. He had worked on his public image for years to get it as perfect as it was. A narcissistic ass with a superiority complex wouldn't be anyone's first choice for a super hero though. More importantly, his image made sure that no one would suspect him of being... Him. He was quite proud in a way. Proud of the fact that not even one of the best spies in the world could see through his mask. He brought his gaze back to a camera. "Sure, everyone knows I'm a philanthropist but there are a lot of those in the world, one more makes no difference." He sighed as he held back more tears that were threatening to fall. "Maybe the world would be better without me in it."

"We both know that's not true sir." Jarvis said, masking the worry in his voice. It wasn't the first time his master had expressed suicidal thoughts but, like every time before it, he hoped that it would be the last. His master had attempted suicide four times. Two of the previous attempts were stopped by Stane, making his treachery all the more distressful. One was stopped by Pepper and the last by Tony himself. Jarvis had always been unable to help due to the fact that Tony had muted him on all occasions and locked himself away from the bots. There were also the incident with the big Arc Reactor and the Nuke but they hadn't been him attempting to kill himself. Those were him protecting the few people he cared about. Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Jarvis and the bots. It made Jarvis sad about how short the list is but a flicker of hope had been lit after Tony had so graciously allowed the Avengers to move in.

"It's my fault." Tony whispered, Jarvis' attention balanced so more of it was on Tony than his thoughts and other duties.  
"What's your fault sir?" Jarvis asked automatically, already knowing that Tony would give the same response he always did.  
"Everything." Tony said softly. And there it was. Tony really did believe that everything bad that ever happened in the world was his fault. He over thought things more than enough to convince him that everything was his fault. It was because of the one thing that Jarvis was able to actually hate. The one thing he was able to break from his coding to have such strong feelings about. Howard. The man had blamed his son for everything.  
"Nothing is your fault sir." Jarvis said softly, failing to hide the worry in his voice.

Tony took a deep breath. He needed to calm down, he knew that Jarvis was worried even though the AI had tried to hide it. He didn't want Jarvis to be worried about him. He cares about Jarvis too much for that. He stayed lying on the bed for a short time. Not sleeping, just thinking in silence, mainly about his father who he just couldn't get out of his head but also about how much better the world would be without him. As he laid on his bed he was idly fiddling with his phone. He did manage to calm down though. He got up and headed for the lab, unsure of how long he'd been in his room.

"Hey Bruce." He said as he entered it, noticing Bruce still working. He flashed the man one of the smiles he put on for the cameras, not quite able to produce a real one.  
"Hey Tony." Bruce said, he noticed the smile and knew Tony well enough to tell it was fake although to anyone else, save the people who actually knew Tony, it would seem genuine. "You okay?"  
"I'm fine." Tony said. Possibly not the best wording, didn't 'I'm fine.' secretly mean the opposite? He hoped Bruce wouldn't pick up on that. "How about yourself?"  
"I'm okay." Bruce said. He wouldn't push Tony to tell him anything that he didn't want to. That came with trust that he knew it would be hard to gain from Tony although Tony already had his. He didn't know why Tony found it so hard to trust.

Tony went to work on some new things for SI. His mind was hazy and he didn't develop anything worthwhile. He sighed, what he really needed was a drink. He'd been doing so well though and hadn't drunk any alcohol since Afghanistan. He did fake being drunk a lot though, mainly for parties and other social gatherings. It would be impossible for anyone to see this though as he perfected the act of being drunk long before his kidnapping. Well, he wasn't a kid... genius-napping?

He went to the kitchen in the lab and brought out a full bottle of whisky from where it was hidden. He stared at it, knowing it would make his problems go away. It had been his solution in the past. He frowned as he looked at the bottle. He didn't _want_ to get drunk to forget. He didn't want his brain to just be drowned out like that. He threw the bottle at a wall, shattering the bottle but the glass wall he threw it at was bullet, and to a certain extent Hulk, proof and so it stayed in tact. He closed his eyes and the next thing he knew he was on his knees with tears rolling down his face. He vaguely remembered being taken by Thor up to his floor and placed on his bed but anything in more detail than that proved to be difficult.

He must have fallen asleep at some point or another as he woke up with a nightmare of the Wormhole again. He placed a hand to his forehead, keeping his eyes closed. He sat up slowly. "Jarvis." He said quietly, opening his eyes slightly to the dimly lit room.  
"Yes sir?" Jarvis asked, concern in his voice.  
"I'm okay right?" He asked.  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said, his voice slightly lighter. Tony smiled slightly.  
"That's good then." He said.

He went to the kitchen, deciding that since he was unsure of the last time he ate something substantial he may as well make something to eat. Around half an hour later he had eaten and hidden the dark circles from under his eyes. He had learnt from years of it being drilled into him by both his father and Stane that he couldn't seem to be weak in front of anyone. Ever. Fortunately he didn't have any important meetings or events that day. Unfortunately, he'd allowed his mask to slip in front of Bruce and Thor.

Tony went down to the lab. He was slightly surprised to see Bruce was still there. "Hey." He said, as happily as he could fake. He knew that Bruce had seen him in the weak state and didn't want the man to coddle him.  
"You okay Tony?" Bruce asked, worry evident in his voice.  
"Of course." Tony said. Bruce nodded. Tony looked around and saw that any evidence of the vodka had been cleared.  
"Why did you do it?" He asked, timidly but obviously concerned. Suspecting that Tony wouldn't answer him.  
"I needed to forget." He admitted. "Getting drunk and getting high are the only ways I've found that work. I didn't want to do either of those." Bruce was really worried now, more so than he had been. He'd known that Tony had used drugs in his past and he knew he'd been clean for a long time - over two decades if the press were to be believed. He was also happy though, happy that the engineer was able to resist the urge to get drunk. Only Pepper was aware that Tony had been sober for quite a few years now.  
"What did you need to forget?" Bruce asked, knowing full well that he shouldn't pry.  
"You know, telling you that would go against the whole concept of 'forgetting'." Tony said, hoping that Bruce would just drop the subject, which he did.

The two worked and as usual they bounced some ideas off of Jarvis and each other. "It's nice to see you treat him like a person." Tony said to Bruce after an hour or two, referring to Jarvis. "Too many people think he's 'just a computer'"  
"Jarvis is the most advanced AI I think even exists. He's definitely a lot more than just a computer." Tony smiled at Bruce's response. His friend's response. Tony decided that didn't have to trust Bruce for him to be a friend.  
"Thank you Dr. Banner." Jarvis said happily. Bruce smiled up to one of the cameras he knew about, knowing Jarvis liked it when people smiled at him. They continued working as they had been for another hour or so before Jarvis alerted them that Clint and Thor came down to the lab. Bruce and Tony walked to the foyer room.

"What's up?" Tony asked.  
"We wanted to check that you were okay friend Tony." Thor said. Tony smiled softly, he'd figured Thor would come by sooner or later. And the fact that he'd called him by his actual name was good too. He wasn't so sure about friend with Thor since he didn't actually know the god but he could definitely see them being friends in the future.  
"I'm fine Thor." He said. "Anything else?"  
"Yeah." Clint said. Tony looked at him. "Could you make me some more advanced arrows?" Tony shrugged.  
"I can do that." He said. "Give me a couple of days and they should be done." Clint smiled at the speed Tony would have the arrows done by. Tony turned and walked back into the lab.

"Bruce." Clint said, before the man also turned to go back into the lab. "Do you have a minute?"  
"Yeah." Bruce said.  
"Is he.. Y'know, okay?" Clint asked.  
"I don't know." Bruce said. "He said that he wanted to forget but didn't want to get drunk but he wouldn't tell me any more than that." Bruce told them.  
"Why did he suddenly feel the need to forget whatever it is now?" Clint asked.  
"My guess would be that someone or something reminded him of it." Bruce said.  
"We should find out what so we can prevent it in future." Thor said.  
"It was probably something to do with the Captain." Clint said. The other two looked at him, confused. "They obviously hate each other, I think he must have done something."  
"You can't just blame him like that Barton." Bruce said.  
"I'm not, I'm putting forward a theory, he probably didn't even mean to do it." Clint said. Bruce nodded. The Captain wouldn't purposefully hurt anyone. Especially emotionally. "And we've been over this Bruce, it's Clint."  
"Okay... Clint." Bruce said, turning and going back into the lab.

It warmed Bruce just how much those two cared for Tony. He knew that if they actually got talking Tony and Clint would get along, which could actually be a bad thing considering their mischievous personalities. He wasn't so sure as to why Thor had shown a particular interest in Tony but suspected that Tony may remind him of Loki a little.

He knew that Natasha was wary of Tony because of what she wrote in his report after she'd been spying on him and he had no idea what was going on between Tony and Steve, they were both great guys but seemed to have some sort of grudge against each other for a reason unknown to the rest of the team.

Bruce was also finding out that Tony was definitely not who the media said he was. Sure, he could be a jerk some of the time but he meant well. If Tony really hadn't wanted them there then why did he go to so much effort to make sure they knew they were welcome? Each of their floors were tailored to their personal needs and Tony had probably spent a lot of time planning them.

He had also learnt that Tony would stand his ground firmly if there was something going on that he didn't want. That gave him hope. Maybe, just maybe, the genius actually did want them there.

Bruce shook off thoughts of Tony and went back to his work. He just hoped things would sort themselves out sooner or later.

* * *

**I promise I don't try to write angst. It just happens.. I blame the depressing music I listen to while I write.**

**Which reminds me. Suggestions are welcome! Don't be shy, I honestly take any suggestion into account when I write and I really enjoy it when you guys give them. There are a couple of reasons for this. One. It means that you're invested in the story, which is _great! _Two. It's actually a really good way to help me over come writers block which happens more than I'd like. I normally get over it in time thanks to the beautiful music I listen to though.**

**Oh, there's a poll on my profile if any of you are interested. It's about what I should write next and currently there are 7 choices, all for the Avengers. It will be up indefinitely or at least until I finish this one.**

**Anyway, Thanks for reading!**

**Till next time guys!  
**

_**Ebil.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**This is dedicated to my 30th reviewer - Another guest actually.**

_**redheadleela **_**- Thanks for reviewing! I have been reading up on PTSD as much as I can because, yeah, I like to know what I'm writing about. I've also been reading a few other stories about Tony to see how other writers have gone with it. As for the re-reading thing - I have no beta but I edit these like crazy. I guess that there may be the occasional slip up and I'm sorry about that. Thanks for pointing that one out though, it has now been fixed!**

**Anyway, this is for you. I hope you enjoy it! ^_^**

* * *

"Mister Barton." Jarvis said to the living room that had all the Avengers but Bruce and Tony present. "Sir would like to see you." Everyone looked over at Clint.  
"Why does Stark want you?" Steve asked.  
"My arrows must be ready!" Clint said, excitement in his voice. Natasha rolled her eyes and Thor went back to whatever he was doing, still paying a little attention to Steve and Clint. Steve just stared at Clint.  
"Why did he make you arrows?" Steve asked.  
"I asked him to." Clint told him. He started walking towards the elevator.  
"And he actually agreed?" Steve asked, slightly confused.  
"Yeah." Clint said as the doors closed.  
"He is not as bad as you believe him to be Captain." Thor said to Steve.  
"Maybe not." Steve agreed.

Tony smiled as he was alerted to Clint coming down. The arrows hadn't taken long but he got distracted and forget to tell Clint sooner. "Hey." He said as Jarvis let Clint into the glass lab. Clint looked around at everything, his eyes widening at the futurist's technology.  
"Hey." He said, walking over to Tony who handed him a quiver of arrows.  
"I would tell you what they all were but that would spoil the fun." Tony said, smirking. Clint smiled. "I'll make sure to keep you well stocked."  
"Thanks for this Tony!" Clint said, Tony frowned slightly, it had been a long time since some one actually meant those words when they said them to him. When he wasn't in the suit at least. He just wasn't used to it.  
"Any time." He said, genuinely smiling. He watched as Clint went back to the elevator, he was probably going to try and see what the arrows did. Truth be told, they weren't all that different from his old ones, it would be hard to design brand new ones considering all the different types that Clint had had before.

"Why did you do that?" Bruce asked.  
"Because I wanted to." Tony said, that and the fact that he wanted the team to be as strong as possible.  
"No, not that." Bruce said. Tony looked at him. "You frowned after he thanked you." Tony was surprised that Bruce had noticed that.  
"I'm not used to it." He said, seeing little point in lying to Bruce about that. "Normally when people thank me they're either thinking of ways to kill me or thanking Iron Man." His smile darkened slightly at the thought of someone actually succeeding in killing him. Bruce just nodded, not wanting to dig any deeper. It was one of the reasons Tony liked Bruce. He could be so shy sometimes.

The pair of them continued working, lost to the world, until Bruce noticed that it was time to eat and he was determined to make sure that Tony actually ate for once. "Tony." He said. Tony looked over to him. "It's dinner time." Tony nodded.  
"C'ya in a bit then." He said, going back to his work.  
"You have to eat too." Bruce said, walking over to where Tony was working.  
"No I don't." Tony said. "I'm not hungry anyway."  
"Tony, don't make me get the other guy to make you eat." Bruce said. Tony gave Bruce a small half smile.  
"Give me a minute okay?" He asked. It was more of a demand though.  
"No." Bruce said. "You're coming up now." Tony frowned at him but really didn't want to even risk the Hulk coming out to play in his lab. Not while the bots were in there at least.  
"Fine." he said, putting a few things away. He started moving towards the elevator, Bruce following. "J, who's in the Avenger's floor?" He asked.  
"Everyone but you two sir." Jarvis told him. Tony held in a groan.  
"Pepper?" He asked.  
"Miss Potts is there." Jarvis told him. Tony nodded. Pepper would be happy with Bruce.

They got out at the Avenger's floor and walked past the others into the kitchen. "Hey Pepper!" Tony said as she was also in the kitchen. He hugged her from behind.  
"Hey Tony." She said, turning into the embrace. After a few seconds she pushed away. "Did Bruce manage to convince you to eat?"  
"He threatened to put the Hulk on me." Tony said. He moved over to the cupboards and began to make himself a sandwich.  
"Well done Bruce!" Pepper said, smiling at the doctor.  
"It was nothing." Bruce said, his shyness was cute.  
"It's good to know he has another person looking out for him." She said. "Sometimes me, Happy and Jarvis just aren't enough."  
"I don't need to be looked after like a kid." Tony protested.  
"Sure you don't." Pepper said sarcastically. Tony pouted theatrically at her. She rolled her eyes and left to check on the others.

Tony and Bruce finished making food and ate while talking about a few things to do with their projects. Tony learnt that Bruce was working for SHIELD, to an extent at least, he still had plenty of spare time and, thanks to Tony, materials to do his own research too. Tony very nearly offered him a job but then he decided that it could wait.

After they had eaten they went to the living room as they hadn't 'hung out' with the others, at all. By the time they got there Pepper had left to go to yet another meeting. Tony steered clear of Steve, he really didn't want another reminder of Howard any time soon. He thought about how easy it would be to slip away unnoticed and was moving to the elevator when Steve called him.

"Stark." He said. Tony turned, a smile on his face.  
"What is it Captain?" He asked sweetly. What had he done this time? Steve scowled at him.  
"It's Movie night." Steve said. Who's idea was that then? Probably Clint's.  
"Good for it." Tony said, turning back to the elevator.  
"I think what Cap was trying to say is do you wanna watch it with us?" Clint said. Tony sighed.  
"What film is it?" He asked.  
"We were thinking about 'Prince of Persia' tonight." Natasha said. Tony forced himself not to tense. Prince of Persia was set in a desert. Tony had had more than his fill of deserts for a life time.  
"I'll pass." He said.

He went to his lab and sat by his desk. He began to fiddle with his StarkPad, coming up with new code for Dummy and an idea for SI. He focused more on Dummy's code. After an unknown amount of time, Bruce came into the lab. Tony didn't look up because he didn't notice. He was completely lost in the coding. Bruce looked over at him and smiled.

"What're you working on?" He asked. Tony didn't look up but he stopped writing the codes. "Tony?" Bruce asked. Tony looked up and saw Bruce.  
"Oh, hey." He said.  
"What are you working on?" Bruce repeated. Tony hummed slightly.  
"Just code for Dummy." He said. Bruce sighed. The robot started making his way to Tony after hearing his name. Tony stroked the mechanical arm absently and the bot chirped with happiness.

"Where are your brothers?" Tony asked after another few moments of silence. He heard a few more chirps from around the workshop and soon he was surrounded by robots. Bruce watched how Tony interacted with them and spoke to them and smiled when he say just how much he acted like a father. A good father at that."You, Butterfingers, you exited for your brother's upgrade?" Tony asked. He was met by exited chirps and a small smile lit up on his face, one that only appeared with the bots. He fiddled around with Dummy for a bit. Bruce couldn't really see what he was doing but when he moved the bot was as animated as ever. "How'd you feel Dummy?" he asked. The bot chirped quickly and Tony went back to stroking the three of them. "Now go, daddy's busy." He said, he was never able to spend much time with all three of them like that and more often than not they got in the way but he loved them so it was okay. He watched as they moved to other parts of the workshop. Probably to annoy Bruce.

* * *

The call to assemble came in sometime later while Tony was absently hacking into SHIELD for the fun of it. He sighed and left the system, being sure not to leave any trace of him being there before suiting up. It was the first actual team mission since Loki and so Tony was relatively exited. Maybe it would help with the whole trust thing.

He got to the location first, thanks to the speed of the suit and began to asses the situation. There were robots. A lot of them. But they were very badly made and would be simple enough to take down. He began to formulate ways to take them all down at once while he waited for the others, on strict orders from the Captain not to engage. He helped get a few civilians out of the area and then, finally, the team got there.

"You took your time." Iron Man said through the comms.  
"What are we looking at Iron Man?" Captain America asked.  
"Robots Cap. Possibly Hammer tech or, more likely, that guy who's always beating on the Fantastic Four." He said. The robots were badly made but they were still better than anything Hammer could do.  
"You mean Dr. Doom." the Captain said, a slightly irritated tone to his voice.  
"Doom Bots. Great." Hawkeye said.  
"Not seeing how they're great birdbrain." Iron Man said. In any way really, the robotics of them were cheap and quite obviously mass produced. He went above them and onto a rooftop to see if either he or Jarvis could spot any weaknesses. "What's the plan Cap?" Iron Man asked.  
"Just take them out." Captain America said. Tony smirked under the mask. That sounded easy enough.

A few minutes into the battle it became obvious that the bots weren't going to go down that easily. They were working together, as a team. QUite obviously being controlled by someone or something. "Jarvis, what's controlling them?" Tony asked as he fired another repulsor blast at a robot."  
"A robotic AI sir." Jarvis said. Tony nodded.  
"Is it on location or are they being controlled remotely?"  
"It is on location sir. The smallest one." Jarvis told him before highlighting it on the HUD. He zoomed in on it.  
"It's going to be hard to get close." Tony said. The small bot was being protected by some larger bots. "Would an EMP work on it?" He asked.  
"Yes sir. An EMP would be an effective way to put it and the surrounding bots out of action." Tony smirked and deployed a small EMP bomb that sent out the pulse when it impacted. The control bot and it's guards went down. The other bots began firing at anything that moved, including each other, making them unruly and so much easier to destroy.

"You're welcome." Iron Man said.  
"Good job Iron Man." Captain America said. They took out the unruly bots with ease. The SHIELD cleanup team arrived a few minutes after the battle ended. The Avengers went back to the tower. They'd have a debrief once they had freshened up a little and the ones who needed it received medical attention. Tony took the suit off and practically collapsed onto a sofa in the communal living room. He didn't notice when he fell asleep.

_He was in the cave. Yinsen wasn't there this time. A small tank of water on the other hand, that was there. They grabbed onto his hair and suddenly he was under the water. The need to breathe was getting too urgent. He couldn't hold it any longer. He took a lungful of water. They finally lifted his head. He had hardly enough time to breathe before it was happening again. This time though they weren't going to take his head back up. This time they were just going to keep pushing him under. He fought them, he needed air. He had to get up. He needed to breathe. He was going to die. His movements and thoughts were becoming more and more panicked._

He woke with a start and sat up, one of his hands immediately went over the Arc Reactor protectively. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he wasn't in the cave any more. A couple more to notice the fact that all of the Avengers were staring at him. He was in the living room. Of course he was. He put the hand that wasn't over the reactor to his forehead. He pinched the bridge of his nose. They were going to have questions that he wasn't going to want to answer. He took a few minutes to compose himself and replace the masks that had fallen. He then got up, ignoring the looks he was getting from his teammates, and practically ran to the elevator. None of them made any move to stop him.

He got in the elevator and dropped his facade as soon as the doors closed. He collapsed to the floor. That was something none of them were ever supposed to see. He shakily got to his feet and left the elevator when it got to his lab. He told Jarvis to shut the floor down from everyone, including Bruce and Pepper. He sat on the floor, surrounded by the bots and allowed himself to cry.

* * *

Back on the Avenger's floor, none of them were really sure as to what just happened. "Did he have a nightmare?" Steve asked.  
"It seems so Cap." Clint said. They had all read his file and there wasn't anything on that about nightmares or anything that may trigger them.  
"There wasn't anything on his file.." Bruce said.  
"Of course there wasn't." Natasha told them. "He hacks into SHIELD for fun, of course he'd have changed his file."  
"So we know nothing about him then." Steve said.  
"We know nothing that he doesn't want us to know." Natasha said.  
"Do you think it may have been about Afghanistan?" Clint asked. Natasha nodded. Thor and Steve had no idea what they were talking about and while Bruce did he didn't know any of the finer details about that.

"What happened to the son of Stark in this place?" Thor asked.  
"Oh, you two wouldn't know." Clint said to Thor and Steve. "Tony was kidnapped and held in Afghanistan for three months a few years ago." Steve was taken aback, he wouldn't have guessed anything like that would have happened to Tony.  
"What happened to him there?" He asked.  
"No one knows." Natasha said. "He never talks about it."

Bruce thought for a moment. "Jarvis?" He asked.  
"Yes Dr. Banner?" The AI responded.  
"Do you know what happened to Tony in Afghanistan?" Bruce asked.  
"I do." Jarvis confirmed. Tony had had to talk to someone about it, just to get it out of his system. He decided that that person would be Jarvis. Jarvis downloaded therapy books and essays so that he could act as a therapist if needed.  
"Will you tell us?" Bruce asked.  
"Only sir is authorized to access that information." Jarvis said, a hint of sadness in his voice. He wanted Tony to tell people about it, he knew that he never would though. Bruce nodded, that made sense. Tony wouldn't want anyone else to know about it if it was something he thought would make him seem weak.

The team decided that they wouldn't bring it up. It was obviously something Tony didn't want to talk about. That didn't stop them thinking about it though.

* * *

**This wasn't the best chapter I've ever done and I know that okay. It very nearly didn't even get completed on time thanks to me being sick for most of last week and writer's block.**

**Wow. A mission and a nightmare in the same chapter?! A very bad, and very short mission but a mission none the less.**

**I've been thinking that I should get Tony, and the others for that matter, into more awkward situations where their flaws are exposed.. Steve definitely has or will have flashbacks to the plane and the cold, also there's the whole _'holy shit, everyone I knew is dead' _thing..**

**Have any of you guys been watching the cartoon _Avengers Assemble_? If you have, which you totally should, what did you think of episode 17? I've been thinking of adding something based on that to this but I dunno.. There would be no dinosaurs or rock men though.. It would be something to get everyone out of their comfort zones as oppose to just Tony.**

**I am retracting the need for 5 reviews because apparently it makes me sound _'__a little desperate/amateurish'_- But seriously. It was suggested I do this by one of you guys - _SwimmerGirl0726 - _So that's what happening. Please don't take this as an excuse not to review though. I love reviews!  
**

**Also. Special thanks to; _SnarryMoreidLover _and _Fullmetalsoul0062 _for reviewing on every single chapter so far! You are both amazing!  
**

**Thank you all so much for reading! Especially if you also suffer through my A.N.s which usually are just me rambling about random things and thoughts..**

_**Ebil.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow! You guys are amazing! Over 100 follows! Thank you all so much for following!**

**This chapter is dedicated to both my 40th reviewer and my 42nd because I couldn't figure out which one I should dedicate it to.. I hope you don't mind sharing!**

_**AinsleyWright **_**- Thanks so much for the review! I agree, team bonding is awesome! ^_^**

_**SwimmerGirl0726 **_**- I take all my reviews seriously! It's so good to know that you thought the chapter was great! I shall be putting the others in uncomfortable situations as soon as I find an opportunity to that works with the story!**

**This is for you guys! Hope you enjoy it! ^_^**

* * *

Life in the tower went on. Tony didn't leave his lab for any reason for the rest of the week though and so it was only Bruce who saw him. Tony knew that it would be okay if Bruce was down there because he wouldn't bring it up. Hopefully.

Tony did run out of coffee in the fourth day of being down there though. "Bruce, can you go get some coffee please?" He asked.  
"Get it yourself." Bruce said. He was halfway through an experiment and didn't want to leave it just to restock on coffee for someone who, in his opinion, would be better off without the caffeine. Tony huffed.  
"Fine." He said. He had been putting off going onto the communal floor but the need for coffee was greater than his desire not to run into any of the others. He sighed as he walked over to the elevator.

When he got to the communal floor there was only Steve in the living room. Thor was in his room, probably attempting to use technology again. Natasha and Clint were training.

He walked past Steve, ignoring the super soldier would be easier than getting into an argument with him. He didn't notice that Steve got up and followed him to the kitchen. He went over to the cupboards and grabbed one of the many bags of coffee. He opened it, thinking that he may as well make some while he was there. He tuned and saw Steve.

"Did you just follow me Spangles?" He asked as he began to make the coffee.  
"Stark. We need to talk." Tony looked up and raised an eyebrow at Steve. "You've been avoiding all of us except Banner since we got here." He pointed out.  
"Why do you care about that?" Tony asked. He didn't try and deny it since it was true.  
"You're the only link I have to the past Stark." Steve said. Tony stifled a laugh.  
"How'd you figure that Cap?" He asked.  
"Your father was one of my best friends." Steve said. Tony shrugged and desperately tried not to think too much about Howard.  
"I'm not Howard." He said as he added creamer and sugar to the coffee.  
"No." Steve said. "You're not." He sighed. "But you can tell me about him." He said. He needed to know what Howard was like after he 'died'.  
"He invented more things, got married, had me and then died." Tony said. He put a hand to his forehead as he pushed away the memories that were surfacing.

Steve noticed how Tony's behavior had changed slightly when Howard was brought up. "What was he like?" Steve asked. Tony shrugged.  
"He was a good man." He said. Howard was a good man, probably a good father too. Tony knew that he deserved whatever he got, that was what Howard had told him at least. He took a sip from his coffee. Steve smiled although he noticed that there was definitely something off about Tony.  
"Are you okay?" He asked.  
"Yeah." Tony said. "I'm fine." He grabbed the coffee bag and his mug and walked back to the elevator. He had to get somewhere else. Away from anyone. He decided to go to his office on his floor.

Steve watched him leave and decided to ask the others what they knew about Howard since Tony obviously didn't want to talk about him. He wanted to know why. He went to the elevator, deciding that it would be best to ask Natasha since she knew the most about him. He got off at her floor and knocked. She answered it a few moments later.

"Steve." She said as a greeting.  
"Natasha." Steve said in return. He walked into the room and nodded at Clint who was sitting on a chair. "Clint." He said. He sighed. "What do you know about Howard and his relationship with Tony?" He asked. Natasha looked at him for a moment.  
"SHIELD had suspicions but nothing was ever proven." She told him, remembering some information from when she'd had to research Tony.  
"Suspicions of what?" Steve asked.  
"Child abuse." Natasha said flatly. Steve was shocked. Howard wasn't like that. He wouldn't have abused Tony. "Someone needs to tell you this." Natasha said. "Howard.. He changed after you died." She said.  
"Changed?" Steve asked.  
"He began drinking." Clint said.  
"SHIELD kept an eye on him but they couldn't get into his home life. They believed he was being abusive to Maria." Natasha told him. "It would make sense if that abuse was then directed at Tony as well or instead."

"How do you know so much Tash?" Clint asked.  
"I read Howard's file." She said. "Tony may have altered his own but from what I can see he left Howard's untouched." Steve nodded. That made some sense.  
"So, Howard may have abused Tony?" Steve asked. "Why didn't he say anything about that?"  
"Tony's not that sort of person." Natasha said. "He blames himself for anything bad that happens to him and then makes sure that _nobody _knows." Steve looked at her, slightly confused. "I spied on him while he was dying." She said.  
"He was dying!?" Steve asked.  
"Palladium poisoning." Natasha said. "From the reactor." She paused. "He made arrangements, making Pepper his CEO and giving Rhodes an unpainted suit which later became War Machine. He didn't tell anyone though."  
"Why didn't he tell anyone about that? People could have helped him." Steve said. Natasha shrugged.  
"He probably didn't want the company to look bad." She said. "SHIELD knew and we injected him with something that would slow it down but ultimately no one could help him but himself." Natasha said. "He rediscovered a new element and that's what powers the reactor now."  
"Rediscovered?" Clint asked.  
"Howard discovered it first." Natasha said. "He didn't have the technology to make it though."

"I should probably go and apologize to him." Steve said. He had been being a jerk to Tony and he knew it. He still hadn't apologized about what happened in the helicarrier before the battle of New York.  
"Just don't bring up Howard." Natasha told him as she watched him leave. She and Clint then went back to the training rooms.

Steve could see that something wasn't quite adding up. He couldn't put his finger on what but something just seemed strange to him. He decided he'd talk to Tony a little more to see if he could figure out what. "Jarvis, can I go to the lab please?" He asked the AI.  
"Certainly Captain Rogers." Jarvis said as he took the elevator down.

Steve got out and was met by Bruce. "Where's Tony?" He asked.  
"I don't know." Bruce said. "He didn't come back down here."  
"Oh." Steve said.  
"Why do you want to talk to him?" Bruce asked.  
"I need to apologize. I brought something up that I shouldn't have." He said.  
"Afghanistan?" Bruce guessed with a small frown.  
"Howard." Steve corrected. Bruce nodded slightly and turned back to the lab door. "Bruce." Steve called. Bruce turned. "Do you know why Tony doesn't like to talk about Howard?" Steve asked. It would make sense for Bruce to know since he spent the most time with Tony.  
"Howard wasn't a very good father." Bruce said. "He was a good man and had a great mind but he was a shit dad." He sighed. "That's my understanding of the matter. Tony doesn't like talking about him though so be careful." Bruce turned back to the door and walked through.

Steve sighed. "Jarvis, where's Tony?" He asked as he walked into the elevator.  
"Sir is on his and Miss Potts' shared floor." Jarvis said.  
"Am I allowed up there?" Steve asked.  
"Sir has not said otherwise." Jarvis said. Steve smiled at Jarvis' logic. Jarvis stopped the elevator on Tony's floor.  
"Tony?" Steve called as he walked out of the elevator. Tony didn't hear him as he was in his office which was on the opposite side of the floor.

"Sir. Captain Rogers has come to see you." Jarvis said into Tony's office.  
"What? Why?" Tony asked, not looking up from his StarkPad or expecting a response. He sighed. "Send him through then."  
"Yes sir." Jarvis said.

A few minutes later Steve knocked on the door. "Come in." Tony said, still not looking up from his tablet. Steve came into the office. He was surprised by how simple the whole floor was. He'd been expecting it to be full of tech and holograms but instead it was really plain. The office was pretty large, it had a large wooden desk and a few chairs along with huge windows that Tony was facing as he worked on his tablet.

"Why are you here Rogers?" Tony asked as he turned to face him.  
"I just wanted to apologize." Steve said.  
"For what?" Tony asked. He wasn't entirely sure which thing Steve wanted to apologize for, whatever it was the chances were that it was actually his fault.  
"For being an idiot." Steve said. Tony shrugged.  
"You can't help that." He said absently, still not looking up from the pad. Steve wasn't sure if he should be offended or not.  
"Did you just agree with me that I was an idiot?" He asked.  
"Your words Cap." Tony said with a smirk.  
"I came up here to apologize to you. Not to be called an idiot." Steve said, raising his voice. Tony looked up.  
"I didn't ask for an apology." He said calmly as he placed the tablet on the table.  
"No." Steve said. "But it's the decent thing to do. Not like you'd know anything about that."  
"What the hell is that meant to mean Rogers!?" Tony asked, finally raising his voice.  
"What do you know about decency?!" Steve asked.

Tony turned away. He was not going to fight Steve. Not again. It was a thing that happened almost every time they spoke and he was sick of it. "Rogers. Don't act like you care when you don't." He said calmly. Inside he was really angry. He knew that if they didn't stop then they'd have no chance of ever actually trusting each other. That could effect how they acted on missions towards each other too. Tony wanted to trust Steve. He really did but their personalities clashed and he couldn't fix that without changing his. Of course, he could change it but that could seem suspicious and the others may start to question his whole personality. He knew that they knew that there was a mask but they had no idea just how much of his personality was influenced by it.

"Well I'm sorry for attempting to get along." Steve huffed. He couldn't see why Tony was so damn stubborn.  
"So that's what you were trying to do?" Tony asked, turning back to face Steve. "You were trying to _'get along'_?" He was raising his voice again.  
"Yes. I was trying to get along with you. How are we going to do missions if neither of us trust each other?" Steve asked.  
"I'm trying to trust you Rogers." Tony said. "But every time we make even the smallest bit of progress you bring _him_ up." He sighed and put a hand to his forehead.  
"Howard?" Steve asked, a slightly softer tone to his voice.  
"Yes. Howard." Tony said, spitting out his father's name and picking up the tablet to go back to work on it.  
"What did he do to you?" Steve asked, he studied Tony's face.

Tony hadn't been expecting that question. How could Steve know?! He had made sure that no one ever had enough evidence to prove anything. The only ones who actually ever suspected anything were SHIELD anyway. Romanova must have told him about that. He put down the tablet and pushed the memories away. "Nothing I didn't deserve." He said softly. Regretting it immediately.

"So he did do something then." Steve stated. He sighed. He didn't see how Howard could have done anything like child abuse. Tony had two choices at this point. One, he could break down his walls and tell Steve. Two, he could deny it. He wasn't in the mood for a 'bonding' session.  
"No." Tony said stubbornly. "He didn't do anything." He kept his face straight and unreadable, not that he really needed to with Steve.  
"Stark. Please tell me." Steve said, his voice soft. "I need to know."  
"No. You need to know nothing." Tony said. He didn't want to tell Steve for two reasons, the man had good memories with Howard and it would bring the memories back. He didn't want to ruin Steve's memories and he really didn't want to risk a panic attack.

"Tony." Steve said, hoping that if he used the man's first name he may be less hostile. "Did he abuse you and Maria?" Steve asked. Tony tried his hardest to push the memories away.  
"No." He said. He knew that it was an obvious lie but he was busy trying not to re live his childhood and so more of his attention was on that than was on making the lie sound like the truth.  
"Tell me the truth." Steve ordered although in a softer voice than the one he usually used when he was ordering people to do things. Tony sighed.  
"If I tell you what you want to hear will you leave me alone?!" Tony asked.  
"If you tell me the truth I will." Steve said.

Tony sighed and looked up to him. "Yes. Howard was abusive. Now fuck off." He said harshly. Steve just nodded before he walked off. As soon as he was gone Tony dropped the mask that he was failing to keep up anyway and allowed himself to remember. He didn't have a panic attack which was good. He did cry though. He cried a lot.

When Pepper came back not too long later she found him on the floor of his office, still crying lightly. She went to him straight away and hugged him. Tony noticed the embraced and forced a weak smile onto his face. He hated it when she saw him like that because he knew that she hated it.

"What happened?" Pepper asked after a short amount of time.  
"Steve." Tony said. "He wouldn't drop the subject of Howard." He knew that Pepper was going to talk to Steve later but he didn't care. He just needed to rest at this point. He was tired from sleep deficiency and the crying had taken the last energy out of him. He hoped he was tired enough not to have a nightmare. Pepper frowned. She could see that Tony was tired though and so directed him to the bedroom.

Tony flopped onto the bed but didn't fall asleep for at least an hour. Pepper had had to leave him to go to another meeting and so he was just left alone with his thoughts. He did fall asleep though. Eventually.

* * *

**What did you think about that? I'd love to know!**

**Remember to leave a review or a suggestion! It really makes my day when I see a new review! ^_^**

**I'm not too sure as to where this is going to go from here but I'll figure something out.. Hopefully.**

**Thanks for reading! You're amazing!**

_**Ebil.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: This chapter contains reference to PTSD and water boarding.**

**Wow! Over 50 reviews and 50 faves!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my 50th reviewer!**

**_islanzadi heap_ - Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it! ^_^**

**This is for you. I hope you like it!**

* * *

Pepper didn't really know that much about Tony but she was gradually getting a glimpse at the man under the arrogance and narcissism. She'd worked hard to break his walls down but then the Avengers came and he built them up again, at least twice as strong. One of the things that she did know about him though was that he blamed everything on himself. He was bound to be blaming himself for Steve bringing up the subject of Howard. And then he was probably also blaming himself for everything that his father ever did to him.

Pepper reluctantly left Tony. She knew he was awake but there was a meeting that she couldn't cancel. She went onto the Avengers' communal floor first though to see if Steve was there. He was. He was reading a book on a sofa in the living room. She walked over to him and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. His head shot up and he stood, getting into a defensive pose.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Pepper asked. Concealing some of her anger although it was still obvious that she was angry. Steve relaxed slightly as his eyes went into focus and he realized that it was only Pepper.  
"What did I do this time?" He asked, he sat down again. He wondered if Tony had moaned at her about him. He placed a hand to his cheek. It hadn't hurt too much but it was still a hard slap.  
"Why did you feel the need to bring up the subject of Howard with Tony?!" She asked.  
"I needed to know what he was like..." Steve said.  
"No. You didn't _need _to know." Pepper said. "Since you've got here you've been nothing but hostile towards Tony." She said. She'd noticed how every conversation they had became a fight. All of them had. Steve opened his mouth to argue that Tony was the one who always started the fights but then Pepper spoke again. "Don't try and blame this on him." She said. Slightly softer. She didn't get a response from Steve.

"Were you aware that Howard was abusive towards him?" She asked. He looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.  
"No.." He said. "Not until I spoke to Natasha..."  
"And then did you talk to Tony again?" Pepper asked.  
"I went to apologize to him." Steve said. Pepper nodded. Steve did at least have good intentions then. "But then we argued and I may have asked if Howard was abusive to him.." He said. Pepper was not amused.  
"Don't ever even use that man's name again." She said in a tone of voice that even Tony never argued with. She thought for a moment. "When I went up there I found him in tears in his office." She said. She knew that Tony wouldn't be happy with her sharing that information but his team needed to know that he isn't the person who they thought he was.

Steve wasn't expecting that. He'd never seen Tony cry and for some reason he couldn't bring himself to believe that the man was capable of it. He had no idea how he was supposed to respond to that so he didn't.

Pepper sighed. She took her phone out and glanced at it. Noticing the time she excused herself and left. She couldn't afford to be late to this meeting. She went into the elevator, going to the business floors of the tower as oppose to the private floors that the Avengers and she lived in. She began to think about them. They were only here to develop trust and yet they all kept to themselves other than Clint and Natasha because there was some past behind them and Tony and Bruce because they were both geniuses and so spoke the same language that none of the others could understand.

She began to text Jarvis who would send replies as a text message. They developed a plan that would come to play as soon as all of the Avengers, including Tony, were both awake and in the tower.

* * *

Tony woke not long after falling asleep. The nightmares had been the worst that they had ever been and had come sooner than usual. They were about something new though, or old depending on how you look at it. Howard. He hadn't had nightmares about Howard since the man died. They were just as bad, if not worse, than he remembered them to be.

It took him a little while longer than usual to come to his senses and realize that he wasn't in any danger. He sat on the edge of the bed, placing a hand to his forehead. After a couple of minutes just sitting on the bed he got up and showered and put clean clothes on.

Once he was done Jarvis told him that Pepper wanted him to go to the basement. He was curious as to why she wanted him to go there and so went mainly to discover the reason.

When he got there he was surprised to find that the other Avengers were also there but Pepper wasn't. "What's going on?" He asked. He noticed that Steve was avoiding looking in his direction.  
"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us." Natasha said. He shook his head. He had no idea.  
"Well, if there is nothing important I am going to leave." He said. "I have a lot of work to do." He turned back to the lift and pushed the call button. It didn't come. "Jarvis. What are you doing?" He asked, boredom and annoyance in his voice.  
"Miss Potts has forbidden me to allow any of you to leave." Jarvis said, mimicking Tony's tone of voice. Tony glared at a camera.

He thought for a moment. Pepper was obviously trying to do a team building exercise. Why did she pick the basement though? Why not the Avengers' floor? There was more to do in the basement. It even had a heated, indoor swimming pool. The only one on any of Tony's properties.

"Why?" Clint asked.  
"Miss Potts believes that it will help your team building if you were to interact with each other. She and I both noticed that you wouldn't do that if we didn't help." Jarvis explained. Tony nearly laughed.  
"Override." He said.  
"You are unable to override Miss Potts' commands sir." Jarvis said.  
"You son of a bitch." Tony said as he stared at a camera. "I'm guessing you're not going to help me override the override then." He said. If he was unable to override Jarvis then it meant that it was unlikely for Jarvis to do any of it.  
"No sir." Jarvis said smugly.

Tony knew that the others believed that he used Jarvis because he wasn't as smart as he bragged to be but they were wrong. He used Jarvis for speed. People seemed to forget that he made Jarvis in the first place. The AI himself knew that Tony would override the override he'd put in place but he hoped that it would take him a little while.

Tony sighed and moved though the basement, followed by the other Avengers to a room adjacent to the pool. He sat down on a sofa and got his phone out of his pocket. "Let's see what you've done to yourself then." He muttered as he accessed Jarvis' code.

The others began wandering around the basement. Clint practically squealed when he found the pool, he hadn't been swimming in way too long. He went back to Tony. "Hey." He said. Tony looked up from his phone. "Can we use the pool?" He asked. Tony shrugged.  
"Jarvis, send Dummy here with swimming stuff for everyone." He said.  
"He's on his way sir." Jarvis said. Tony went back to examining Jarvis' code.

About ten minutes later the bot arrived, his mechanical arm full of swimming trunks and one bikini. He dumped them by the pool and went back into elevator to go back to the lab.

The Avengers got changed into the swim wear and went into the warm pool. Tony didn't get into the pool, instead he moved to one of the chairs by the pool to be sociable although he wasn't paying any attention to the Avengers. He was wearing his T-shirt as well as his swimming trunks. He'd switched his phone out for a laptop and his fingers practically flew over the keys. It was still going a good hour or two. Jarvis had really outdone himself on this one. He didn't really mind too much, in fact he quite liked it. It gave him an actual challenge, too few things did that.

About half an hour in Thor, Clint and Bruce decided that he had to join them. He declined and went back to his work. Partly because he wanted to get back to his lab as soon as possible but mostly it was because he knew he wasn't ready to face large bodies of water where his face may be submerged. He shivered slightly at the thought but pushed it away before he had a panic attack.

After another quarter of an hour Thor and Clint tried to get him to join him again. He declined for a second time, this time rather rudely. Bruce got out and sat with him for company and because he knew that Tony worked better when he spoke to someone, it was one of the reasons that Jarvis was so developed. He found Tony's mind fascinating and loved hearing the genius talk about his work, even when Bruce himself didn't always understand what he was talking about.

The third time that Thor and Clint wanted Tony to join them they didn't bother asking as they knew the answer would be no. Thor picked him up as Clint took the laptop from him. His eyes widened as he realized what they were going to do. Only Bruce noticed the pure panic on his face.

"Guys, I don't think that's a good idea." He said.  
"Think of it as a 'Team Building' activity." Clint said as Thor dropped Tony into the water.

* * *

_The water surrounded his face. He held his breath and struggled against the arms holding him down for as long as he could, water flying onto the car battery's wires and giving him small electric burns around his chest, but then he ran out of breath and accidentally inhaled a lungful of water. His body tried to cough it up but he just ended up swallowing more water. The hands weren't pulling him back up. This time he really was going to drown. He felt his body go limp before the blackness took over._

* * *

Steve watched as Thor dumped Tony into the water. He and the other five watched as the man thrashed in the water it took him a moment before he realized that Tony wasn't going to begin to swim. "Get him out of there!" He yelled as he began to swim towards Tony. Bruce had jumped in as soon as he noticed Tony begin to panic. He was extremely close to hulking out and was only just able to keep the beast at bay. Thor and Clint jumped in as soon as Steve had yelled and Natasha also began to make her way towards the genius.

By the time they'd gotten him out of the water he was unconscious. Steve began to pound on his chest, he knew that Tony had to cough up the water that was in his lungs.

After a small amount of time Tony coughed up a small amount of water, panic misting his eyes. A hand shot up to the reactor and when he didn't feel the wires of the battery he began to panic again. They'd taken the battery, the one thing that was keeping him alive. He looked at the faces staring at him and didn't see the Avengers, he saw the faces of his attackers back in Afghanistan.

He scrambled back, a hand covering the reactor as he moved away from them. He backed into a wall and brought his knees to his chest, hugging them with his head bowed. He was waiting for them to either drag him back to Yinsen or start to beat him. Maybe they'd just leave him to die from the shrapnel, they had taken his battery after all.

His chest wasn't hurting though. It should be hurting if the battery was gone. He took a few shaky, shallow breaths and then sensed someone begin to walk towards him. He tensed and tried to get further away but he couldn't. All thoughts of his chest left his mind as he began to think about what his attacker would do to him. He felt his heart pace quicken as the person placed a hand on him.

That wasn't right. This hand was gentle. Things weren't adding up. His chest wasn't hurting in the same way it should be if the battery was taken. Instead it was the more bearable pain that he'd gotten used to of the metal shaft that the battery wires would go into. He hesitantly uncurled as he realized that whoever had their hand on his back wasn't going to attack him. He placed a hand onto his chest, expecting to feel a hole through the fabric of his shirt. Instead his fingers met cold metal through the material.

The Arc Reactor. He'd made that to replace the battery after agreeing to build them their stupid missile. He turned his face to focus on the person who's hand was on his back. He focused on the person. They weren't one of his attackers. No. He knew this person. Bruce. How was Bruce in the cave? Did they get him too? Bruce was talking to him but he wasn't paying attention any to the words.

He moved his gaze to the rest room. He wasn't in the cave. He was in the basement of his tower. "Fuck." He whispered as he came back to reality. He shrugged Bruce's hand off of his shoulder before shakily getting to his feet, using the wall for support. He ignored the Avengers, the wall was suddenly extremely interesting.

Once he'd recovered enough to move without immediately collapsing he rushed to the elevator. Jarvis didn't wait for orders before he opened the doors. His master's safety was more important than some stupid team building exercise. He stopped it at Tony's floor. The man got out and collapsed onto the bed.

He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this one. How he was going to convince the Avengers that he was fine. How he was going to explain why the water had triggered a flashback without letting them know about what happened while he was in Afghanistan.

He should have just got into the pool when they had first asked him. At least that way he'd have been able to make sure that his face didn't get covered by water and possibly avoided the whole situation.

* * *

**What did you guys think?**

**Please leave a review or a suggestion! It really makes my day when I see a new one on any of my chapters!**

**Locking them all up in a room for a team building exercise was a suggestion from _Kampe. _Thank you so much for suggesting that!  
**

**Well, thank you for reading! You're awesome!**

_**Ebil.**_


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